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The Defense Ministry on Tuesday said it decided to define North Korea as a "direct, serious threat" in the 2008 White Paper published Friday. The word "direct" is added to the 2006 definition. It is the strongest expression South Korea has used about the North since striking the phrase "main enemy" from the biennial white paper amid thawing relations in 2004.
"We've decided to define the North as a direct, serious threat because the security environment has changed considerably since the North's missile and nuclear tests in 2006 and that its conventional forces are still threatening." a ministry official said.
In a question-and-answer session in the National Assembly in July last year, Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee already hinted the ministry would not revive the term "main enemy" in the white paper. He said, "We'll use an expression that is not liable to escalate unnecessary internal debate but that everybody can agree to," he said.
The white paper will have on a cover a picture of the 14,000 t-class Dokdo, the largest landing ship in Asia that was commissioned in 2007, to display the country's determination to defend the islets.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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